Pictures and statues decorate every wall of the Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant in Grand Chute. The building was transformed from a Bakers Square earlier this year. / The Post-Crescent

Written by

Maureen Wallenfang

Post-Crescent staff writer

A few days ago, I asked readers to give some suggestions on what they’d like to see done with vacant buildings around the Fox Cities.

They tweeted, emailed and posted some interesting answers.

The question was prompted by a proposal I’d seen to turn a vacant paper mill into indoor mini self storage units.

It got me thinking: If you couldn’t get rid of an unused building by tearing it down, what else could you do with it? How could you recycle and repurpose a building, assuming it would be financially viable to fix it up?

Grand Chute has seen a lot of repurposing over the last few years.

Bakers Square, for example, was transformed into Buca di Beppo. Boston’s Pizza became a Denny’s. Master Graphics was split up and repurposed for Breadsmith, Wildbird & Backyard and a future third tenant. Linens & Things became H.H. Gregg. All American Pools became Master Spas.

When I asked readers their thoughts on recycling buildings, here’s what they suggested:

Thomas Clifford, @tommytrc, a longtime fan of the Milwaukee-based restaurant AJ Bombers, thinks downtown Appleton would be a good spot for a branch of the burger joint. He didn’t have a specific building in mind. “We need a spot (downtown with) loads of foot traffic,” he tweeted. “We need 5,000 sq. ft.”

Chiming in on Twitter, Lamplighter ?@WillowglenWI suggested AJ Bombers “could take over the old Señor Tequila’s and its sister bars...turn it into one large establishment.”

(As an aside, I have no updates on the future of Senor Tequila’s, Casablanca and Venue. The three connected restaurants/bars in the 500 W. block of College Avenue have been closed since June and formally lost their liquor licenses Aug. 1. A new owner could apply for a liquor license for the premises after a six-month waiting period. Appleton’s current license waiting list doesn’t include anyone listing the 531 W. College Ave. address, but a previous Senor Tequila’s manager is on the list for a project “to be determined.”)

In other reader comments, Lori Walbrun emailed an idea that will resonate with a lot of eastsiders.

(Page 2 of 2)

“How about a Michaels or Hobby Lobby for the old Famous Labels site in Darboy?” she asked.

Patty Palm-Biller suggested that a salon/spa move into the original La Manz Hair Design and Body Centre location on N. Oneida Street. “I used to work there and I would keep it intact. Lovely building.” La Manz moved to City Center Plaza three years ago.

Joel Mahn tweeted that this area needs a Carrabba’s Italian Grill because it has “better food than Olive Garden and Bucas. And amazing drinks.” He specifically craved the Chicken Bryan, which www.carrabbas.com describes as “wood-grilled chicken topped with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and our hand-prepared basil lemon butter sauce.” Southern Wisconsin has two Carrabba’s, in Brookfield and Greenfield.

Reader Megan Landgraf wants a Trader Joe’s, the popular California-based grocery and wine market, but she didn’t have a specific building in mind. “There’s got to be something on the north side that would work,” she wrote.

Shaun Shouldeen on Facebook and Matt Wellens on Twitter had the same response to Wednesday’s announcement that Eddie Bauer would close in the Fox River Mall.

“Making room for an Apple Store?” asked Shouldeen.

“Please be an Apple Store,” tweeted Wellens.

For the record, an apparel retailer is considering the space being vacated Jan. 31 by Eddie Bauer. Its name will be released when the lease is signed.

Note: If I get a sufficient number of additional building recycling ideas from readers, I’ll post part two next week.